here's the start to my character sheet. I haven't got to the skills yet, but I did rank my classes and write abit on personality,looks, etcFeel free to make any suggestions or to ask any questions

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Name: Cameron JoyceNationality: IrishBlood Status: MixedAge: 17Year: 4thHouse: (Leave Blank)Description: He’s a bit taller than average at 5’11”. He doesn't have much noticeable muscle, but his legs are quite powerful (because how much he was to run away from things). His hands are quite quick and sneaky. His eyes are a light hazel, he’s got curly, rather bushy, bark brown hair, and his skin is rather pale, like most Irishmen. Personality: Curious and quick thinking. He’s fascinated by wand lore and magical history. While his grades aren't fantastic, he excels in the classes that he truly enjoys. When he is passionate about something, this seems to bleed into other peopleBackground: His father came from a semi-respected Irish wizarding line and his mother is a muggle. He’s got two older brother (both past Hogwarts age) and younger sister whose about 10. His father had gone to Hogwarts he when was younger, so the second it was possible, Cameron was registered at the school. Interesting Fact: He wants to own a wand shop, and he was a picture of Ollivander and Gregorovitch in his notebookWand: (Willgo over later in OOC)

@Blinkin: yes you did :) and its a great point. I didn't even think about the 25 foot law I meant the 21 foot rule: a, good, knife fighter can cross about 21 feet in the time it takes to draw aim and fire a hand gun. Anyway, typing on my phone inflections sucks I appreciate your point.

As for dueling with a sword and injuries I figured they'd be against most fights with teachers present. Also figured I could use the sword dull and not kill anyone for unsanctioned. And then just use the sword for any real fights ("bad guys", forbidden forest, all the random "school" stuff that happens not at Hogwarts).

But that draws the question; a good portion of stuff in the books happens in an unsanctioned environment. Can we expect the same or is that beyond the scope of the game and we should focus on school?

Codexa, I have not answered that question before and had not personally thought of it. After taking a moment to check the Harry Potter wikia (such a glorious site) I have decided to allow it. There will be a quality for it, and yes, two students can have it.

The two famous wandmakers from the books were Ollivander and Gregorovitch. Grindelwald was the friend of Dumbledore's who stole the elder wand. So both were significant, wand-wise, but I wanted to make sure you had the right name.

I think it is a minor enough spoiler to admit that duels will eventually be allowed and even taught. During these teacher-supervised duels, swords will not be allowed. However, students may decide to practice on their own, and during these sessions, it is anyone's guess what will be allowed.

You can expect me to follow the examples of the books. Classroom scenes exist to provide information an side plots, give different glimpses of other characters and allow for interaction. Most of the story involves events completely unrelated to structured academic enrichment.

Sorry it's taking a bit long for me to put up a sheet. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the details and figure out what I want to do.

I'm the kind of RPG player that makes a really crappy character the first playthrough and in the second a really good one, but I don't have the luxury of that in this game so I gotta take extra time to think. I should have one up soon.

Do we need to have images accompanying our characters or just a sufficient description?

I generally feel that a person's first character with a new system is the most inspired, with subconscious minmaxing jading the process after that. Don't worry about making a weak character. Not only are there so many ways to excel in this setting, this system rewards well-rounded characters fairly well. Feel free to PM me or post ideas here. If I think he wouldn't be able to occasionally shine I'll let you know just as I would a particularly min maxed character. I will say that novelty concepts seem particularly popular this go round, so conventional characters (Quidditch, Traditional Duelist or Academic types) should fare quite well.

Images are not required, though I am particularly fond of them when feasible. If you check the Approved Characters thread, you'll see that I posted my first of two major NPC students, and I love his picture.

Looking forward to the two Metamorphagus chars (and a third would be allowed with a good concept).

As an added note, the Setting Info and Rules threads have seen a lot of new material recently, so be sure to check those out. One of the things added is a list of pretty much every known spell and the DC to cast it (which took a long ass time). Since Magical Expertise seems the most popular stat to place at 4, I recommend looking at the spell DCs and seeing what score your character needs to be able to do what you envision. Yes, I occasionally encourage min-maxing. I am a horrible person and an irresponsible GM.

Just as an update, I am still feeling that two PC Houses would be best for the game, though with a couple more players I will change this to all 4 (three Houses just doesn't seem to work at the moment, which is unfortunate). I am trying to toy with a placement combination that allows for 3 interesting PC Houses with (somewhat) fair challenges, but have thus far been thwarted.

Lets admit it, Hufflepuff got a bumm deal throughout the book. People learned about Ravenclaw, even though it wasn't one of the two big houses, but you rarely saw anything about the huffles except in Goblet of Fire and even then, it wasn't much compared to the fairly significant amount from Ravenclaw. I guess it was the house that got the left overs... Hey! Lets all be hufflepuffs just for the fun of it!

Name: Katrina RavenshireNationality: BritishBlood Status: PureAge: 17Year: 4thHouse: tbdDescription:She is 5' 7" with creamy skin and a slender, athletic build. She has long, wavy red hair which she usually keeps tied in a ponytail. Her eyes are emerald green, and tend to sparkle with mischief.Personality:Katrina loves to fight and make trouble. She has a problem with authority and also tends to run her mouth without thinking too much about the consequences. She has a competitive streak, be it duelling or Quidditch, and isn't averse to starting a fight if she feels she has been slighted. She takes that same passion to the bedroom, and is much more sexually active than her older sister.Background:The Ravenshire sisters come from a long line of witches. They are actually half-sisters, sharing the same mother but with different fathers. Ravenshire women have never been the most powerful nor the least, but always seemed to rest somewhere comfortably in the middle, and performed dependably if not remarkably in times of trouble. Both sisters are looking to surpass their mother in ability and reknown. Katrina actually has a little more raw talent than her sister, and she is much more aggressive in trying to showcase her skills and abilities.Wand: tbd

It's the best Quidditch player we have so far, and she's a secondary character. Whichever House she ends up in will have one hell of a Chaser and a pretty decent duelist.

On the subject of Houses, currently thinking of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, maybe Slytherin as well depending on how many Houses I use. I am a fan of Hufflepuff, personally, not just because that's where I would want to be. RP-wise they offer a lot of freedom, and make balancing groups easier.

Technically there will be tryouts in game. Realistically I will rig the deck so that everyone gets to play, and most likely play the position that they want. After all, a Quidditch team has 3 Chasers, 2 Beaters, 1 Seeker, and 1 Keeper. Given that there are 4 potential Houses, that makes for 28 potential spots, and we have about 3 people interested so far. I do not foresee "making the team" being a significant problem.

I would be super stoked for Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw as our two houses. For a while there was an amusing meme/in-joke sort of thing in the chunk of the fandom I used to hang around in about them secretly running everything behind the scenes a while Gryffindor and Slytherin were busy being all flashy and impressive.

Now that wand information is up should we fill that in on our sheets, or is there still more information on that coming up? Also, are you okay with cores and such that aren't on the lists, as long as they're reasonable? I'm fine with switching but I'm sort of sentimentally attached to Vi's ashwinder eggs

Wand: 9 inch wand made from applewood, which favors those with a more "outdoorsman" personality, and which is said to be particularly good with herbology. The core material is a mixture of kneazle whiskers (from Mori's father), and griffon feathers taken from Belda and Obda (a mating pair of griffons on his families ranch). The core materials make this a strong, but difficult to use wand, that excels when its wielder is fighting to protect others. Because the core materials come from animals which Edgar is personally attached to, the wand may fail to work if used against him.

And

Gustav's Wand

Foot long wand made from pale cherry wood, which is rare in the western countries, and known for its power. The core of this special wand, which is known as Umbra (Latin for "Shadow"), is a mixture of runespoor fang, and Banshee hair. The mixture of core materials produces a frighteningly powerful, difficult to use wand; it is highly aggressive, and well-attuned to the Dark Arts.

As an aside note, Umbra is a peculiar wand which has bonded tightly to the Raubriter family. It will function well for any of them, though always does best with the current heir to the family (which Gustav is). It is also likely to backfire if someone not of his family attempts to use it; it is all but guarenteed to burn (perhaps literally) anybody trying to use it to harm a member of the Raubriter family.

I do not have an official number. We have had slightly more male interest, but I haven't heard from quite a few people, the majority male, so we might be slightly higher on female characters, which is my preference. I find a 60/40 female/male breakout tends to be the most successful.

Wand: 9 inch wand made from applewood, which favors those with a more "outdoorsman" personality, and which is said to be particularly good with herbology. The core material is a mixture of kneazle whiskers (from Mori's father), and griffon feathers taken from Belda and Obda (a mating pair of griffons on his families ranch). The core materials make this a strong, but difficult to use wand, that excels when its wielder is fighting to protect others. Because the core materials come from animals which Edgar is personally attached to, the wand may fail to work if used against him.

Doesn't this violate cannon information on wands won in duels? Just curious.. does the father give it up for the heir before his death?

Doesn't this contridict the cannon information from the last book about wands won in duels?

And

Gustav's Wand

Foot long wand made from pale cherry wood, which is rare in the western countries, and known for its power. The core of this special wand, which is known as Umbra (Latin for "Shadow"), is a mixture of runespoor fang, and Banshee hair. The mixture of core materials produces a frighteningly powerful, difficult to use wand; it is highly aggressive, and well-attuned to the Dark Arts.

As an aside note, Umbra is a peculiar wand which has bonded tightly to the Raubriter family. It will function well for any of them, though always does best with the current heir to the family (which Gustav is). It is also likely to backfire if someone not of his family attempts to use it; it is all but guarenteed to burn (perhaps literally) anybody trying to use it to harm a member of the Raubriter family.